a former air carrier captain, a Ph.D. hu­
man factors scientist, an FAA Designat­
ed Pilot Examiner and an A&P mechan­
ic with inspector authorization, Kochan
has industry­spanning insight. In the
past, she says, new pilots often exhibited
skills learned in previous jobs, but now,
with less­seasoned pilots arriving at em­
ployers’ doorsteps, this is not always
the case. More and more employers re­
port that unsuspecting applicants ar­
rive without an adequate combination of
training and life/work experience to be
successful either in class or on the line.

So the pilot shortage, as Wolfe ex­
plains it, is a much deeper issue than
the quantity of applicants. It is a short­
age of well-qualified applicants. He calls
this shortfall, the disparities between
pilot knowledge and the needs of the in­
dustry, the pilot preparedness gap. This
is the problem that PABC was created
to address.

More and more employers report thatunsuspecting applicants arrive without an adequatecombination of training and life/work experienceto be successful either in class or on the line.

how to use them.” And pilots, she says,
are rarely given much guidance regard­
ing automation management. “We say
‘do this,’ but we don’t say how to do it or
when to do it.”

Once defined, these global standards
will be available free of charge to pilots,
pilot trainers and educational institu­
tions. “The standards will provide the
foundation for professional prep cours­
es and training programs,” says Wolfe.
“We see them enhancing the qual­
ity, scope and depth of pilot training.
The standards will also serve as a ca­
reer­planning tool—particularly in the
U.S. where pilots have so many options
and really need guidance in making in­
formed decisions about training provid­
ers.” Access to the training standards
will also support independent study in
preparation for a new, industry­defined
professional certification exam.

“The ultimate goal of certification is
to offer all pilots credible proof of their
competence to meet industry expecta­
tions, regardless of where or how they
received their training,” Wolfe explains.

PHO TO B Y MICHAEL OVERBE Y

between pilot licensure and the prepa­
ration needed to meet current industry
demands.

NON-PROFIT OBJECTIVITY

As an independent, non­profit organiza­
tion, the Professional Aviation Board of
Certification is uniquely positioned for
its stated mission: to ensure the pre­em­
ployment preparedness of pilots who
wish to pursue professional flying ca­
reers. Unencumbered by profit motives
or hidden corporate agendas, PABC has
attracted the interest and cooperation
of many industry stakeholders—pilots,
employers, educators, gov­
ernment agencies, aviation
insurance underwriters,
manufacturers and service
providers, and the public.

Wolfe and his colleagues
have confronted what they
see as a systemic problem
in the pilot training sys­
tem—inadequate standards,
excessive costs (training
may range from $40,000 to
$120,000 today!) and insuf­
ficient production to meet
the challenges ahead. PABC
believes that global, indus­
try­defined training stan­
dards will close the gap

GENERIC STANDARDS FIRST,

CERTIFICATION TO FOLLOW
Wolfe sees the new Multi­crew Pilot Li­
cense (MPL), now being introduced in
other countries, as a huge step in the di­
rection of such a global standard. Using
the MPL standards as a baseline, work­
ing with experienced pilots as subject
matter experts (SMEs), PABC is now
generating uniform standards for pilots
who come through all other, non­MPL
training paths. “We are talking about
universal, generic aviation principles,”
says Wolfe, “the concepts that provide
the basis for further study of the sys­
tems, equipment, practices and proce­
dures of specific operators.”

Kochan adds that such generic skills
will filter into specific flying skills. Us­
ing checklists as an example, she stress­
es the need to teach the basic concepts
behind them—“how and why checklists
are constructed the way they are, and